A former Hanover boy, critically injured in a zip-lining accident last Thursday in Easton, has sparked an outpouring of prayers both close to his old home and from as far away as Jerusalem.

Hundreds of children and adults turned out last Saturday at Saint Mary of the Sacred Heart Church in Hanover to pray for 10-year-old Matthew Cox, who remained in critical condition in a medically-induced coma Tuesday evening at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Doctors are waiting and hoping for the brain swelling to go down, said Chris Dupill, Matthew’s uncle.

“The doctors are going to try to perform a CAT scan on Wednesday,” Dupill added,

The accident happened in Dupill’s backyard on Shagbark Road in Easton when a tree anchoring one end of the zip line snapped and fell, striking the boy.

Matthew, whose family moved from Hanover to Saco, Maine, last September, underwent brain surgery the day of the accident.

“Everyone has been great and we’ve been getting a ton of support,” said Dupill, adding that Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley visited Matthew on Monday night.

The Rev. Christopher Hickey at St. Mary’s in Hanover said Tuesday that the community is rallying behind the Cox family.

“I have never seen the community so profoundly affected by something,” said Hickey.

Hickey said that nearly 500 people turned up at the church last Saturday afternoon.

“More than 300 were kids,” he said. “Most people were looking for a way to make some sense of the senseless.”

Cheryl Avitabile of Hanover, whose son is one of Matthew’s former classmates, was among those who came out Saturday.

“Someone posted on Facebook: ‘One o’clock, let’s meet at the church.’ And it filled up immediately,” she said.

Avitabile said she and other Hanover residents have been making blue ribbons for neighbors to put up in their yards, expressing their support for the Cox family. Blue signifies healing, said family members.

“All the moms are telling their kids at every meal to say a prayer for a miracle for Matthew,” Avitabile said.

Prayers, videos and messages are being posted for Matthew on a web site called CaringBridge from across the country and internationally. The page dedicated to Matthew had received thousands of visitors and hundreds of posts.

“We are just hoping for a miracle at this point,” said Chris Dupill.

“The Cox’s are a family of great faith,” said the Rev. Hickey.

He said the family wanted people to know that they are also making special prayers to the late Pope John Paul II, who is awaiting canonization by Pope Francis.